Nokia has unveiled its next generation of IP routers and platforms specifically for access, aggregation and smaller distributed edge locations. The company said the new family of products will help service providers and mission-critical enterprises address the increased capacity and capability demands driven by broadband investments and evolving cloud network architectures.
7730 SXR routers are powered by FPcx routing silicon, a new line of in-house network processors that are more compact and extensible than Nokia’s FP silicon, making them optimal for locations on the outskirts of IP networks.
The FPcx silicon is fully programmable, meaning Nokia can make upgrades without taking those platforms out to replace them, “something that often happens in this area of the network,” said Heidi Adams, head of marketing for IP and optical networking.
Today’s networks are increasingly distributed, creating more instances where a smaller scale routing platform can be helpful.
“We've heard of the mobile edge, we've heard of the distribution of capabilities closer up to the customer to reduce latency. The on ramp to the IP network actually gets pushed closer up to customers as well,” explained Adams. “As you do that, you actually need smaller platforms to address those site locations, whereas typically we've built much bigger ones, because they've sat deeper in the network.”
Routers depend on the services and capabilities they offer as well as speed and capacity, and each application area within a network has a different set of requirements. The IP edge needs more feature-richness, as it does “a lot of deep touch processing,” Adams said, while the IP core needs less features and more speed capacity.
As the industry focuses on making routers “bigger and better,” there's also a need to bring some of that attention into the lower speed or lower capacity applications further out in the network. Adams said historically, Nokia has worked with partners for merchant silicon to serve these locations, “but one by one, the partners have either exited the market, they've gotten acquired or they've refocused on other markets.”
“There's nobody left in the market today that has a real focus on the needs of service provider and mission critical enterprises in this space… in terms of providing those right-sized platforms for different locations within the network,” Adams told Fierce.
The 7730 SXR routers are enabled by SR Linux, Nokia’s network operating system (NOS) software that will run on the routers, and the Network Services Platform (NSP) automation suite. Nokia highlighted that the NOS platform has been in the market for the past five years, but for the new generation of routers is designed with more cloud-native design principles.
“Underlying IP network architectures need to adapt to how data center and cloud infrastructure is evolving. But on the flip side, IP networks also are starting to adopt some of the best practices of what we've seen in the cloud world. And a lot of this is in the area of software and network automation,” said Adams.
The NSP uses automation to manage and control Nokia’s entire IP networks portfolio, as well as its interoptical networks portfolio. With what Adams noted is an “increasing focus on ensuring the network itself is secure” among operators, the routers will also include MACsec, ANYsec and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack mitigation with traffic inspection.
Last month, Nokia announced a new version of its network-in-a-box solution, adding new components into the mix and making its kit scalable to meet the needs of medium-sized operators in addition to small ones.
The original network-in-a-box kit included optical line terminals (OLT), optical network terminals (ONT), Wi-Fi units and associated licenses. For its second edition, Nokia is adding its IP routing products into the mix as well as additional OLT options.